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Tuesday, 18 October 2011

Raymond Bachand is one impressive minister

From the time he entered politics,
via a provincial byelection on December 12, 2005, I was impressed with the way
Raymond Bachand carried himself. Unquestionably, Premier Jean Charest’s
decision to recruit the noted businessman and lawyer to run for the Liberal
Party in Outremont following the retirement of Yves Seguin was one of his
better moves.

Raymond Bachand makes a point to Beryl and I.

Bachand was elected on December
12, 2005 in Outremont in a by-election after the retirement of former Finance
Minister Yves Séguin. After holding the
economic development portfolio, he added tourism to his duties during the minority government mandate from
April 2007 to October 2008 before
becoming minister of finance and latterly revenue as well.

The polished and charming 64 year is impeccably bilingual, holding masters
and doctorate degrees in administration from Harvard Business School. Last
spring I had a chance meeting with Bachand during a showing of the phenomenal
production of Schwartz’s The Musical at the Centaur. He was in the lobby with
his wife chatting with artistic director Roy Surette when I walked
by. I introduced myself about the same time that former federal cabinet
minister Gerry Weiner spotted us and joined the introductions. It turned out my
seat was close by the minister and at intermission we ended up at the same
resting spot outside as did Weiner. A wonderful non-political discussion
ensued. A few weeks later I saw him again when he addressed a local community
group at which time I asked if he could spare some time to give me an interview
for The Suburban. With his very charged schedule, several dates went back and
forth but editor Beryl Wajsman and I did sit down with Bachand a few days ago for a nice
tête a tête at his constituency office.

Please note that the full interview will appear in the October 26 edition.

Before entering politics Bachand worked
in several key positions, including the Ministry of Labour and the premier's
Office. While he was a a pro-sovereignty supporter during the 1980 referendum,
and an organizer for the “Yes” campaign, he changed positions to maintain that Quebecers should work inside
the Canadian federation. He is the ideal person to convince those individuals who
still believe in separation that it is an old time strategy. (Just look at what
happened to Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc
Québecois folks!)

Speculation these days points to a spring provincial election. If that were to be the case, then it is pretty
much a foregone conclusion that Premier Charest will seek a fourth mandate.
However, according to the letter of the law, the Liberals can stay in power for
five years. The only way this will happen is if Charest decides to retire and
leave his successor with sufficient time to build an image as an electable
premier. Claude Béchard was seen by many as a heir apparent. Sadly, he died earlier
this year of cancer. Nathalie Normandeau was in high regard as well, but she
recently stepped down herself. Education
Minister and present-day Deputy Premier
Line Beauchamp has also been mentioned as potential leadership material.
However, like Normandeau, she can barely speak a word of English.
Unquestionably, Bachand remains the most
able for the job – a job though that Charest shows no signs of giving up
anytime soon.